Raising ‘Kane’

San Luis Obispo fest brings Welles pic to San Simeon

It took 71 years, but “Citizen Kane” is finally coming to Hearst Castle. The San Luis Obispo film fest has skedded a Hollywood to Hearst Castle event for March 9 including two screenings of Orson Welles’ landmark pic inspired by the erstwhile owner of San Simeon.

Harrison Ford and photog Timothy White will start off the festivities by flying into Hearst Ranch’s private airfield, just as William Randolph Hearst’s Hollywood friends once did.

Wendy Eidson, fest exec director, said: “We’d been trying to do an event with them for years and when I suggested showing ‘Citizen Kane’ as kind of a joke, they didn’t laugh. Then we reached out to Harrison Ford, because he flies his own plane, and he thought it was a great way to honor Timothy White.”

Great-grandson Steve Hearst, a veep of Hearst Corp., says the screenings will help place “Kane” in its proper context.

” ‘Citizen Kane’ is a classic American film but is in no way a historically accurate depiction of William Randolph Hearst or his favorite place in the world, his ranch.”